Posted on by Emily Bradley

Sport Racing Toward More Diverse Future

 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR’s Seventh Annual Diversity Awards Luncheon on Friday celebrated the present while clearly sending an emphatic message regarding the future of the sport.

The overall face of NASCAR is evolving daily, resulting from the ever-growing number of individual, diverse faces that are driving a multi-cultural awareness throughout the NASCAR industry. NASCAR’s commitment to diversity efforts is producing tangible results, on and off the race track. Some of the people involved in those results were honored Friday at Daytona International Speedway.

“Inclusion and diversity … we’re trying to make that synonymous with NASCAR racing,” said NASCAR President Mike Helton, at the outset of the event.

The award recipients “help us embrace the unprecedented amount of opportunities women and multicultural individuals have across all disciplines in the motorsport industry,” said Marcus Jadotte, NASCAR’s vice president of public affairs and multicultural development. “They are shining examples of our industry’s understanding of the importance of diversity in all aspects of our sport.”

No one shone brighter Friday than the winner of the Industry Ambassador Award, Alba Colon, Chevrolet Racing’s program member for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

She stands just a shade over five feet but make no mistake, she’s a giant.

Colon is a definitive pioneer when it comes to diversity and the NASCAR industry. A native of Salamanca, Spain, she received a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Puerto Rico in 1994 and soon started working for General Motors. Colon moved into her current position with Chevrolet in 2001, becoming the first female to lead an OEM racing program in NASCAR.

The Industry Ambassador Award honors Colon for her support of diversity initiatives and willingness to share her inspiring story.

“Diversity is a topic I did not always think about, to be honest but because of this award, I’ve been thinking about what it is, practically,” Colon said. “Diversity is only an asset when it’s combined with the will to win … with hard work. And for those who are different like I am, remember: diversity alone does not guarantee success. Attitude, drive and education are critical. You will not succeed without those qualities.”

From off-track to on-track, one of NASCAR’s brightest young stars, Kyle Larson, was presented with the NASCAR Ignition Award in recognition for reaching NASCAR’s top rung — the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Larson, last year’s Sunoco Rookie of the Year in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, is competing for the same honor this season in Sprint Cup. Larson, an Asian-American, will make his first Daytona 500 start on Sunday, driving for Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. He is the first graduate of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity program to land a Sprint Cup ride.

Other award presentations:

The NASCAR Diverse Driver Award went to Daniel Suarez, third in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East points last season while also finishing as the championship runner-up in the NASCAR Mexico Toyota Series. Suarez already has two K&N victories to start this season.

The NASCAR Diverse Crew Member Award was presented to Dion “Rocko” Williams, former NFL player now a crewman for four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jeff Gordon.

The Young Racer Award, to 11-year-old Austin Geer, who will drive a Bandolero car for Rev Racing this season. Geer already has 25 Bandolero victories.

The NASCAR Partner Award, to Toyota, in recognition of aligning Toyota Racing’s NASCAR efforts closely with the sport’s overall diversity efforts.

The NASCAR Diversity Internship Participant Award, to Southeastern University graduate Victoria Garcia, after an outstanding internship with NASCAR Productions.

The Institution Award, to the University of Central Florida‘s DeVos Sport Business Management program headed by Dr. Richard Lapchick, for efforts in educating students on how sports can help create a more diverse and inclusive society, along with the responsibility of using sports to make a difference.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

LAS VEGAS — Paul Menard managed to stay on the lead lap with Kevin Harvick, runaway winner of Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

RELATED: Full race results

That in itself was a significant accomplishment for the driver of the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford, who finished ninth and also is ninth in the series standings after three races.

“It’s a bit early, but the Fords are fast coming out of the gate this year,” said Menard, who moved from Richard Childress Racing to the Wood Brothers Racing team this year. “I think we’ll be good in Phoenix next week as well.

“I feel really good with where our program is at right now.”

It is early, but Menard currently is pacing above his career-bests. His top season (2014) included five top-five finishes and 13 top 10s.

The Wood Brothers team, with Ryan Blaney behind the wheel, advanced to the Round of 8 of the playoffs last season.

Posted on by Pat DeCola

MORE: Harvick dominates Las Vegas | Picks up 100th career NASCAR win

As great as #NASCARGoesWest is, the very nature of the three-week swing out to a handful of NASCAR’s western-most tracks makes it a logistical puzzle for drivers with families rooted in North Carolina.

That was the case this weekend for DeLana Harvick and her two children — Keelan and the newest addition Piper Grace. Those three were not on hand to witness Kevin Harvick’s dominating victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, the landmark 100th national series win of his career.

RELATED: Complete Las Vegas results

Leave it to “Uncle Moke” to make sure they still took part in the victory celebration.

NASCAR heads to Phoenix’s ISM Raceway next — where Harvick has had, oh, a bit of success in the past. Assuming the likely event that three quarters of the family hangs back in N.C. next weekend, Stewart might want to make sure he has his phone fully charged Sunday evening.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

RELATED: Race results from Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS, Nev. — If a 12th-place finish, one lap down, can ever be considered heroic, Jimmie Johnson had such a result in Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

The seven-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion entered the race a dismal 35th in the standings after crashes in the first two races of the season, at Daytona and Atlanta.

And Sunday didn’t start on a high note. Johnson’s No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet failed pre-race inspection three times, costing the team the services of car chief Jesse Sauders, who was ejected from the event. Johnson started the race from the 37th position and went a lap down to race winner Kevin Harvick on Lap 34.

Throughout the race, however, Johnson was able to stay far enough ahead of Harvick to stay one lap down, notably during the long green-flag run that made up the second stage. Damage to the front end of the car also was an impediment.

RELATED: Monster Energy Series driver standings

But Johnson got back on the lead lap as the “beneficiary” (highest scored lapped car) under the fourth caution and salvaged the 12th-place finish. It was a small step, but a significant one.

One of the keys to Johnson’s recovery was patience — resisting the urge to overdrive the car.

“At the end of last year, and even in Atlanta, I was trying too hard,” Johnson said. “Just giving 100 percent and driving the car where it’s at and bringing it home is what I need to start doing.

“I’ve been trying to carry it, and I’ve crashed more cars in the last six months than I have really in any six month stretch or whole year stretch. (I’m) just trying to drive it 100 percent and not step over that line.”

Posted on by Brad Norman

RELATED: Harvick doubles down in Vegas | Race results | Photos

LAS VEGAS – It wasn’t quite Kyle Busch’s day in the desert, but ending Sunday’s 400-mile event as the runner-up was a quencher to kick-start NASCAR’s West Coast swing.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver jumped 11 spots over the course of Sunday’s race to secure his sixth top-five finish in front of his hometown crowd at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. It wasn’t the smoothest of rides for the No. 18 team, but finding a rhythm is something Busch and his crew chief Adam Stevens have nearly perfected since joining forces in 2015.

“We just didn’t have it early on, just super, super loose, but Adam and the guys made some great adjustments to flip that and be on the tight side for the majority of the rest of the day,” Busch told the media after the race. “But at least it was driveable and we could start making some passes and making some gains on people, especially on long runs when they would get loose, our car would kind of come to life and be super-fast, probably Lap 20 on into a run.

“There was no catching that 4 (of Kevin Harvick), he was on rails today and lights out. I don’t know what we need to do to catch up and get better like those guys, but certainly we have some work to do.”

After a frustrating 25th-place finish at Daytona to open up the 2018 season, Busch followed it up with a gritty seventh-place run at Atlanta. With a second-place showing now in the back of his pocket, the only thing left to do is win.

And Friday’s Camping World Truck Series winner hopes that the lessons learned from the weekend will help the team in a potential playoff run in September, when the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series returns to Las Vegas to open the postseason. This year marks the first time in the sport’s history that the speedway will host two races in a season.

“I think the biggest takeaway is just the way the race kind of transitioned,” he said. “It was a 400-mile race. The race when we come back here in the fall/late summer is going to be a 400-mile race, so the adjustments in the things that we were making today are definitely going to be useful for what’s going to happen when we come back. … Just learning how the track kind of moved around and the different lines that we were all running and stuff, it seemed like you can go about anywhere on the race track.

“You know, again, this place has finally kind of aged a little bit where you can move all around and all over, and it’s no longer one of those new repaves, so it feels pretty good.”

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: See where Harvick’s 100 wins rank

Kevin Harvick hit the milestone of 100 wins across all NASCAR national series with his victory on Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.

Harvick dominated by winning the first two stages of the race, then closed out his 39th Monster Energy Series win by leading 214 of the 267 laps at the 1.5-mile track. He notched his 99th win a week prior at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

“I think as you look back and you look at all the different wins and the wins that we have had here and at KHI and Richard Childress Racing and Junior Motorsports. All the different vehicles I have been fortunate to drive, and there have been a lot of good ones,” Harvick said. “I know how hard it is to get to Victory Lane and to know we have been there 100 times is something I almost can’t fathom.”

Harvick also has 47 wins in the Xfinity Series and 14 wins in the Camping World Truck Series. Sunday’s win at Las Vegas tied team co-owner Tony Stewart for the most wins (16 apiece) for a single driver at Stewart-Haas Racing.

Only three drivers rank above Harvick on the all-time combined wins list; David Pearson with 106 wins, Kyle Busch with 184 combined victories and Richard Petty with 200 trips to Victory Lane.

Posted on by Reid Spencer

RELATED: Race results | Stage 1 results | Stage 2 results

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – If you thought last Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta was an aberration on old asphalt, think again.

 Kevin Harvick was every bit as dominant on the newer asphalt at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, racking up impressive numbers in winning Sunday’s Pennzoil 400, the third event of the season.

 In winning his second straight race and his second at the 1.5-mile track, Harvick finished 2.906 seconds ahead of runner-up and Las Vegas native Kyle Busch. Third-place finisher Kyle Larson was more than 13 seconds back. Paul Menard in ninth-place was the last driver on the lead lap.

Photo by @johnnymacops

Harvick won for the 39th time in the Monster Energy Series and the 100th time over all three of NASCAR’s national touring series combined. He is tied with Tim Flock and Matt Kenseth for 19th on the all-time Cup victory list and third among active drivers.

RELATED: See where Harvick’s 100 wins rank 

The driver of the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford also took the series lead by three points over second-place Joey Logano and four over third-place Ryan Blaney, who started from the pole on Sunday and led one lap—the first.

 “As you look at the last two weeks and our 1.5-mile program in general, it has been really good since I started here at SHR,” said Harvick, a Bakersfield, California, native. “They put a lot of effort into everything we do from every standpoint to get these cars going like they are. It’s great to win on the West Coast for me.”

 Harvick led 214 of 267 laps, most ever by a Las Vegas winner. His fastest lap was more than .4 seconds better than the quickest circuit posted by anyone else. Harvick won the first two stages of the race with relative ease, picking up two Playoff points in the process.

With all that, the outcome wasn’t a foregone conclusion after Harvick lost three spots on pit road under caution at the end of Stage 2. He restarted fourth on Lap 167, fell back to fifth and didn’t regain fourth-place until he passed Chase Elliott on Lap 172.

 RELATED: Harvick says this feels like 2014

“We had some trouble getting through traffic there,” Harvick said. “That was our worst run, as far as where the car was. I don’t know if it was just the car, tire set, handling, whatever it was. We were just stuck in traffic and needed to come make an adjustment.”

 After two more cautions — the first for Jamie McMurray’s brush with the backstretch wall on Lap 176, the second for a hard crash off Turn 4 that eliminated Kurt Busch and Elliott on Lap 183 — Harvick lined up beside eventual seventh-place finisher Logano for a restart on Lap 195 and rocketed into the lead through the first corner.

 At that point, it was game over. Kyle Busch led laps 225-230 after Harvick made a green-flag pit stop on Lap 225, but that was Busch’s last glimpse of the lead. Harvick reclaimed first place after Busch came to pit road on Lap 230 and stayed there the rest of the way.

 “There was no catching that 4,” Kyle Busch said. “They were on rails today… Certainly would have liked to have been able to run down the 4 or catch the 4 and put on a race, but they were just so far out there and so far the class of the field all day long, I don’t think anybody was really keeping up with them.” 

Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Stage 1 results | Photos from Las Vegas | Lap-by-lap updates

Kevin Harvick showed some early strength in Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race, winning the first stage at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Harvick, last weekend’s winner at Atlanta, started second and led 68 of the 80 laps in the first stage in the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Ford. He earned 10 points in the series standings and banked one playoff point with his second stage win of the season.

Martin Truex Jr., the defending winner of the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube (FOX, PRN, SiriusXM), finished second in the first stage in the Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Toyota. Kyle Larson came home third at the end of Stage 1, with pole-starter Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano completing the top five.

Blaney led just the first lap from the pole position. Michael McDowell led the other 11 laps in the stage, his Front Row Motorsports team opting for an alternate pit strategy in the middle of the segment.

Finish Driver Team Race points
1 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing 10
2 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing 9
3 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing 8
4 Ryan Blaney Team Penske 7
5 Joey Logano Team Penske 6
6 Brad Keselowski Team Penske 5
7 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing 4
8 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports 3
9 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing 2
10 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing 1

Stage 2 recap | Results

Kevin Harvick continued a solid showing Sunday, sealing a stages sweep at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with a Stage 2 victory.

Harvick led all but four of the 80 laps in the second stage of the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube. He surrendered the lead only during a mid-stage exchange of pit stops, which allowed Kyle Busch to lead for the first time Sunday.

Harvick’s second stage win of the day in the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 4 Ford pushed his early season total to three. The stage finish also earned another playoff point that he’ll carry into the postseason. Harvick cumulatively led 144 of the 160 laps through the first two stages.

Team Penske’s Fords occupied three of the top six spots at the end of Stage 2. Pole-starter Ryan Blaney was the stage runner-up in the No. 12 Ford with Kyle Larson’s No. 42 Chevrolet in third. Joey Logano, Busch and Keselowski completed the top six.

The total distance is 267 laps (400.5 miles) on the 1.5-mile Nevada track.

Finish Driver Team Race points
1 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing 10
2 Ryan Blaney Team Penske 9
3 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing 8
4 Joey Logano Team Penske 7
5 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing 6
6 Brad Keselowski Team Penske 5
7 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing 4
8 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing 3
9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports 2
10 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing 1
Posted on by Staff Report

RELATED: Starting lineup | Photos from Las Vegas

NASCAR officials have ejected the car chiefs for the Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Chevrolet and the Premium Motorsports No. 15 Chevrolet ahead of Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Both entries failed pre-race inspection three times before the start of the Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM). Both Jimmie Johnson (driver of the No. 48) and Ross Chastain (No. 15) will start at the rear of the 37-car field.

Under the new deterrence guidelines in the 2018 NASCAR Rule Book, a crew member of NASCAR’s choosing is removed after a third inspection failure. Competition officials have ejected car chief Jesse Saunders from the No. 48 team roster and Lee Leslie from the No. 15 team’s at-track list.

Johnson was scheduled to start 14th in the third Monster Energy Series race of the year. He said he was unsure how the penalty would impact his day.

“I’m not sure. I’ve never been in this situation,” Johnson told FOX Sports during its pre-race broadcast. “Last weekend, there were some teams that had the same thing take place and they still had good finishes, so any race team out here is bigger than one person. Although I guess Jesse’s not going to be with us today, we have a lot of people who are very talented and ready to get going and fill in the void.”

Johnson is a four-time winner at the 1.5-mile Nevada track. Chastain is set to make just his fourth career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start and his first at the Las Vegas venue.

Posted on by Track Release

CONCORD, N.C. — Alsco, a pioneer in linen and uniform rental services, has joined forces with one of racing’s iconic tracks, Charlotte Motor Speedway, for a historic entitlement sponsorship of the Alsco 300 on May 26. Alsco’s groundbreaking sponsorship of the Alsco 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway coincides with the 40th anniversary of the inaugural running of one of the crown jewels on the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule.

Additionally, Alsco – which also sponsors the NASCAR Xfinity Series race on July 13 at Kentucky Speedway – becomes one of only two companies to serve as entitlement sponsor of multiple Xfinity Series events.

“Charlotte Motor Speedway is all about striving for excellence, which is a quality we share with Alsco,” said Greg Walter, Charlotte Motor Speedway’s executive vice president. “Alsco’s partnership with the speedway is proof that this world-class company is committed to supporting our thrilling, action-packed events at America’s Home for Racing. Fans will be in for a show on May 26, when some of NASCAR’s most prominent drivers will tangle with the up-and-coming future stars of the sport in the Alsco 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.”

Alsco is a worldwide leader in the rental of linen, uniforms, healthcare garments and washroom products. The family-run business introduced linen and uniform rental services to the world in 1889.

“I don’t think we can have better people to work with than the folks at Speedway Motorsports, Inc. They bend over backward to make sure everything is right in our partnership,” said Steve Larson, Alsco vice president, North American operations.

“We’re committed to NASCAR and what it’s meant for Alsco, which is why we sought a second race sponsorship. Our partnerships across the racing world, together with VF Workwear, have given us great exposure, opened doors, and have given us opportunities for valuable business partnerships,” said Jim Divers, Alsco’s director of sales and marketing.

“We are also excited at the prospect of being able to do this at Charlotte over Memorial Day weekend. This is a great platform to show our respect to our military, active and veteran.”